Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday declared that the day India would be free of Maoist terror was not far, recounting the recent success in countering the movement with 303 Maoist operatives having surrendered in the past 75 hours and with only three districts of the country now remaining in the grip of Left Wing Extremism. Adding that it was his “guarantee” that LWE would be a thing of the past, he said that “areas that were affected by Naxalism will celebrate Diwali for the first time in 60-70 years”.
He was addressing a conclave organised by NDTV in New Delhi. “In the last 50-55 years, thousands were killed by Maoist terrorists. These Naxals would not allow schools or hospitals to be built... they would not let doctors enter clinics... they would bomb institutions. Maoist terrorism was an injustice to the young people,” he said. “I used to feel agitated... this is the first time I am expressing my pain to the world,” Mr. Modi said.
210 Maoists surrender in Chhattisgarh, hand over 153 weapons
He criticised the previous the Congress regime for its ‘inability’ to root out “urban naxals”, who he said were so dominant that no information about any Maoist terrorist incident reached the people of the country and they enforced heavy censorship on such incidents.
